BIG block off plate!!!

Hey all. Been almost a year since I got lots of great advice from a lot of u. I went with the alderlea t5 last year. It is installed in a large walkin fireplace in my old farmhouse. Just drew up and bent up a big daddy block off plate (3 piece) to install hopefully this weekend (pic attached). It will attach around where u see the white stop on the walls just by/above the lintle........

This is 10 feet wide!! Am going to pack bats of roxul on top. Hoping in the old stone I can get a decent fit with masonry screws around perimeter. Wondering if I should go to the extent of spray foaming any gaps?

I am looking for more advice of course.... I am thinking of mounting one or two small 5 inch door jam fans to the roof of this block off to push the hot air Into the room vs. paying the three hundred for the alderlea fan. My thought process is by mounting them to the block off plate I will help really circulate the heat still in that large cavity out in the room better than the stove fan...... Thoughts??

jatoxico said:

Personally I think I would just stick with the roxul. You getting downdrafts right now? Paint the block off black and how about a box fan pointed into the fireplace to keep the traditional look as much as possible.

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No down drafts, actuall have a tight cap on top of this chimney. Lit first couple fires end of last winter and that very large cavity of a chimney was just a huge heat synch I think absorbing a ton of the heat the stove put off. Room was obviously toasty but this block off should really crank a ton more heat into the rooms vs getting trapped up in the chimney area I m thinking?

Thanks for your input!

begreen said:

Wow, that fireplace is huge. You could park a mini-cooper in there. The block-off plate should help. It won't hurt to seal the edges with clear silicone if desired. Is there a blower on the stove? With the stove set this deep in the fireplace that also would help.

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Hi Begreen, no I did not buy the fan for the stove. I am going to try to mount a few of the door jam corner fans to this block off plate above the stove since there is an outlet just outside the fireplace to blow the heat from within the cavity out in the room. Thinking that will work good and much cheaper than the 300 dollar PE fan. If it doesn't work I will get the stove fan.

Prichan said:

That is a very sweet fireplace and a sweet idea to do the block off plate. I wish to install a block off plate this year even though I am getting plenty of heat from the stove, just the idea of any of that righteous heat escaping my clutches after a year of cutting splitting stacking gets under my Yankee flesh. My problem is where can I get the material? Someone I think suggested I contact a HVAC company. Open to any and all suggestions. Good luck.

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Thanks for the comments! HVAC company is good, that is where I got the metal for this and they threw in self tapper screws and some lap joints to fit the three sections together. They should have all u need! I will post pics after I get this installed.....

Mike n PA said:

Hey all. Been almost a year since I got lots of great advice from a lot of u. I went with the alderlea t5 last year. It is installed in a large walkin fireplace in my old farmhouse. Just drew up and bent up a big daddy block off plate (3 piece) to install hopefully this weekend (pic attached). It will attach around where u see the white stop on the walls just by/above the lintle........

This is 10 feet wide!! Am going to pack bats of roxul on top. Hoping in the old stone I can get a decent fit with masonry screws around perimeter. Wondering if I should go to the extent of spray foaming any gaps?

I am looking for more advice of course.... I am thinking of mounting one or two small 5 inch door jam fans to the roof of this block off to push the hot air Into the room vs. paying the three hundred for the alderlea fan. My thought process is by mounting them to the block off plate I will help really circulate the heat still in that large cavity out in the room better than the stove fan...... Thoughts??

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Ok,

Finally got the block off plate in.... These 250 plus yr old stone walls in the fireplace took a lot more trimming and bending than I had hoped but all in all was not too difficult to do. The fact that u can stand up in it makes it much easier.

Have a nice tight later of thick roxul on top and I am anticipating a night and day difference now since this ten foot wide cavern of a chimney is now blocked off and insulated

Pics attached.

Mudsurfer1234 said:

Very cool install. We have a similar fireplace and are going to shoot for the same installation in the next few weeks.

I also see your lintel has a bevel on the back side, the same as our's. Is your heat shield on that bevel just a 1" air gap or do you have something like kaowool in that gap? We are hoping to be able to get by with just the empty air space so we don't see the wool from the front, and to paint the shielding flat black to try and hide it.

Nice fireplace as well, I wish our's was stone.

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Thanks for the message. The gap is about a one inch air gap. I do have the high temp (not sure the name) of fireplace insulation in the gap that I got from the hearth store nearby. I also wrapped the double wall pipe (overkill) where the roxul butts up against the pipe in the previous pics. The insulation has like an aluminum backing to it.

Thanks again and good luck with yours. Have your tin snips in your pocket!

kennyp2339 said:

Awesome job - that baby should have the heat rolling out now

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Thanks for the message, can't wait to fire it up and see the results. Next step is to figure out the best fan setup... I did not buy the PE stove fan for the T5 when I bought the stove last year. I am either going to put an ecofan in there or... I will mount one or two 5" door jam fans to the ceiling just installed to help push the air out. Leaning toward the door jam fan mounted to block off plate just for mere cost at this point, I don't think I need much to move the hot air trapped against this new block off plate out into the house... Any suggestions welcome.

sportbikerider78 said:

I can't tell from your pics (forgive me if I missed it) but is that double wall pipe?

I don't think you will lose much heat at all not having fans up in there. The hot air will fill that space, hold it, and as hot air is added, hot air will escape. I think fans are likely a net energy loss in this case.

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Yes, it is double wall pipe. Your probably right too, the block off plate is probably about 6" recessed up from the opening to the fireplace with a bunch of roxul as you saw insulating the plate. I assume it won't take long for the heat to build up then start rolling out into the room.... I will fire it up and see the results compared to late last season when I installed the stove and burned with no block off plate....